


Dreams of the mind

by FallenBelieves



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenBelieves/pseuds/FallenBelieves
Summary: The abuse, though not always visible, had left its scars.
Kudos: 10





	Dreams of the mind

Hail the Fire Lord. The people were cheering for Zuko, seeing him as the beginning of a new era. One of peace and prosperity. Zuko realized that they would not see the horrors behind the scenes. The politics, the arguments, the fights. Because the generals of the fire nation refused to see peace as an option. They believed that they could win the war, that they were still winning. They did not see the pain, the deaths, people lining the streets begging for a single coin so they could survive. Zuko knew it would only be a matter of time before the generals would do something stupid. 

They were still loyal to Ozai, his non-bending irrelevant to them, they remembered only the man that sat on the throne for the last decade. They were still loyal to Azula, seeing only her power and intelligence, not her instability. Zuko had made sure to keep the rumors quiet. He knew how people would react if they knew Azula was still alive, her bending intact but her mind shattered. The other nations would demand her to be punished, not seeing the horror of being locked in a cage. 

Zuko walked down the halls of the grand palace, passing by kneeling servants and stunning tapestries showing the glory of the fire nation. You could hear crying even here, on the other side of the hallway, still far away from his sisters room. The doctors had said that Azula would never be the same, but Zuko still held out hope. Hope that one day, his sister might become the child she never could be. Who was allowed to smile, and pet the turtleducks. It had taken a few conversations before Zuko understood. Azula felt as if everyone had left her. And in a way, everyone had. It was not even truly her fault. You could not fault a child for behaving in a way that made the parent happy. 

Zuko arrived at a door. He knocked, and waited. He could hear muttering on the other side of the door. He wondered who it would be this time. Who Azula saw in the dreams of her mind. Would it be their mother, asking Azula’s forgiveness, or it would it be their father. He was interesting in her dreams. Sometimes he told Azula to burn everything down, but other times he would tell her that she was safe, that he hadn’t left. Zuko scoffed at that. Their father had left, but he did that many years ago. He could still barely remember a glimpse of a smile. That faded after he became firelord. Zuko never was sure why, was his mother such a good influence, or was it the burden that came with the throne. Now, he would never know. Their father rarely spoke to him, only to Azula. He never truly understood how their father got here though. After all, shouldn’t he be locked up in his cell?


End file.
